Microplitis prodeniae Rao & Kurian

Ranjith, A. P., Rajesh, K. M. & Nasser, M., 2015, Taxonomic studies on Oriental Microplitis Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Microgastrinae) with description of two new species from South India, Zootaxa 3963 (3), pp. 369-415 : 403-404

Microplitis prodeniae Rao & Kurian

Microplitis prodeniae Rao & Kurian 1950: 167 . Holotype NZSI. Microplitis prodeniae Gupta 2013: 444 .

Female. Body length 2.3 mm.

Head: Head densely setose ( Fig. 16 -B), punctate, not constricted behind eyes in dorsal view, 2× as wide as long; face convex, punctate; frons convex; area between antennal sockets and medial ocellus with distinct carinate longitudinal ridge; vertex smooth, convex, punctate; POL less than OOL; eyes setose; lateral temple 0.5× as long as eyes; scape 2× as long as pedicel; first flagellar segment as long as the scape and pedicel combined.

Mesosoma: Mesoscutum punctate, setose; notauli distinct; scutellar lunules with seven distinct carinae; scutellum rugose; propodeum with median longitudinal carina surrounded by coarse rugosity, transverse carinae present; mesopleuron medially smooth, shining ( Fig. 16 -A); anterior and postero-lateral sides finely punctate, densely setose; hind coxa punctate, setose; tibia longer than femur.

Wings: Fore wing 2.6× as long as wide; pterostigma 2.5× as long as wide; 1-R1 0.6× as long as pterostigma.

Metasoma: T1 2× as long as wide, parallel sided, narrowing posteriorly, broadly excavate in basal 2/3, rugose medially except for shining apex; T2 with median field without slanting margins; T2 and T3 with single row of setae in the middle, denser and much scattered laterally. T4 onwards setae scattered all over the surface of tergites; ovipositor slightly exserted ( Fig. 16 -A), visible in dorsal view.

Colour: Head, antennae, mesosoma and coxae black, fore and mid legs mostly yellow brown, except dark coxae and tarsi, hind femur reddish brown darker dorsally and apically, tibia medially pale testaceous, apical 1/3 dark brown, 1/4 extreme base with black infuscation, wings infuscated below pterostigma, venation brown, pterostigma and veins dark brown ( Fig. 16 -A), T1 of metasoma black except brown apex, anterior laterotergites light brown, second and third tergite reddish brown, smooth and shiny, T2 dark brown, T3 with a mix of red, brown and black colour.

Male: Unknown.

Distribution. India, China (Guangxi and Guangdong), Vietnam.

Host. Spodoptera litura (Fab.) .

Discussion. This species is close to M. spodopterae in having the propodeum coarsely rugose, T2 with median field, face punctate, lateral temples slightly visible in anterior view. It differs from M. spodopterae in the following characters: T1 parallel sided, narrowing posteriorly 2× as long as wide (in M. spodopterae T1 parallel sided, 1.25× as long as wide), medial length of T3 greater than T2 (in M. spodopterae medial length of T3 as long as T2), mesoscutum with indistinct medial furrow (in M. spodopterae mesoscutum with distinct medial furrow).

Comments. Type material could not be directly examined, but images of the holotype taken by Dr S. Sheela (NZSI) were used to compare with the new species described in this paper.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Microplitis prodeniae Rao & Kurian, female, holotype A) Habitus, lateral view; B) Head, anterior view.